gaffer

[A corrupt. of granfer, itself a corrupt. of grandfatner (q. v.).] 1. An old man; a word formerly used in respect, but now only used in contempt. "For gaffer Tread well told us by the bye, Exce ive sorrow is exceeding dry." Gay: Pastorals. 2. The foreman of a gang of men, especially of railroad laborers; a sub-contractor on a railway. 3. The foreman of a mine. *gaf-fle, s . [Wel. gaft a fork; Ir. & Gael. gab hal ; Dut., Sw. & Dan. gaffel ; Icel. gáfal ; Ger. gabel =a fork; Wel. gafael =a hold, a grasp.] 1. An artificial spur of steel put upon game-cocks when they are set to fight. 2. A steel lever used to bend cro bows. gahnite *găg-āte, s . [Lat. gagates ; Gr. gagates lignite, bituminous wood, jet, from gag as , and Gaggai =a town and river in Syria near which it occurred.] Min.: The name given by Pliny. Dioscorides, ., to what is now called jet. ( Fuller .) gāģe (1), *guage, s. [Fr. gage, from gager = to pledge, from Low Lat. wadio, vadio, from vadium =a pledge, from Lat. vas (gen it. vadis )=a pledge; cogn. with A. S. wed =a pledge.] 1. A pledge, a pawn; something laid down as security or pledge for the performance of some act by the person depositing the thing, and to be forfeited in case of non-performance. "They from their mothers' breasts poor orphans rend, Nor without gages to the needy lend." Sandys. to combat. 2. Anything thrown down as a token of challenge "There take my gage , behold I offer it To him that first accused him in this cause." Fairfax : Godfrey of Boulogne , bk. v., s. 58. 3. A pledge, a security. gāģe (2), s . [GAUGE, 8.] gāģe (3), s. [After the name of the introducer.1 A kind of plum. [GREENGAGE.] gāģe (1), v. t. [GAGE (1), s.; Fr. gager.] †1. To wager; to deposit as a pledge or security for some act; to wage or wager. "I gage my life, my falchion to attest." †2. To stake, to risk. IMG:content-0268.png:[blocks in formation] A. Transitive : 1. To stop the mouth by thrusting something into allow him at the same time to breathe. it, so as to prevent a person from speaking, but "A Christian boy in Constantinople had like to have fowl."- Bacon : E ays; Of Goodne . been stoned for gagging in a waggishne , a long-billed 2. To silence by authority. "Is it peace, because the man is gagged and cannot, or overawed and dares not, cry out of oppre ion?"- South , vol. x., ser. 6. 3. To prize or keep open by thrusting something in. "Some have their mouths gagged to such a widene , for a long time." -Fortescue: De Laudibus , ch. xxii. *4. To cause to heave with nausea. fold or depre ion, the style is conspicuous; the capsule is membranous, with many seeds. About thirty species are known; they are from Europe and Northern Asia. Gagea lutea is the Yellow Gagea, or Star of Bethlehem. It flowers from March to May. *gā ģe-like, adv . [Eng. gage , s. (1), and like .] In the manner of a challenge. "[She] stood for her cause, and flung defiance down Gage like, to man." Tennyson: Prince , v. 170.